Actions
Explore all the food actions organised by how they help you REDUCE, REUSE AND RECYCLE
Overview
Food Production has risen as food costs have fallen. Obesity is now commonplace!
Food production has increased in line with intensive farming practices. Food miles are rampant and developing countries often feed the developed nations whilst suffering food shortages themselves.
Access to food from across the globe has increased. Most foods can be sourced at most times of the year. The notion of seasonal food has almost disappeared as foreign suppliers export around the year from all parts of the world.
There is justification for this global market in terms of how it helps foreign producers in developing nations improve their way of life. However at the same time, local producers in, for example, Europe are ceasing production because they can't compete with imports whose real environmental cost is not considered.
The exploitation and destruction of tropical forests and natural habitats is a direct consequence of intensive agriculture in some of the developing nations. Irreversible damage to the natural world takes second place to commercial profit, it would seem!
We can reduce our food's environmental footprint and also help developing nations produce the food they need rather than produce the items to which we have become accustomed. In many cases, items that were once considered luxuries and are now taken for granted.
Perhaps we have forgotten the true value of what we have?
Considerations
- Local social dimension to overseas crop production
- Kenyan beans scenario - low carbon impact in volume/food miles but huge economic and therefore social impact if demand suddenly dries up.
- However, production may cease to be viable as climate change bites and water scarcity is exacerbated.
- Local food for Local people should be the first call.
- Food Miles are a hot topic.
- Need to reconcile the energy of food production with the energy required to export.
- Local, seasonal products save transport energy.
- National or local distribution needs to be balanced.
- Consider greater use of indigenous seasonal crops.
- Meat production takes ten times the land area compared with the same amount of food-energy derived from food crops.
- Ruminants produce high levels of Methane.
- The use of herbal oil extracts from thyme and mint can inhibit this effect.
- Other more exotic plant extracts are being investigated
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